Apparatus for doffing coiled sliver



Oct. 30, 1962 1 3,060,518

APPARATUS FOR DOFFING COILED SLIVER Filed March 29, 1961 Inventor A ttorneya United States Patent 3,960,518 APPARATUS FOR DOFFING COILED SLIVER Moore Hill, Belfast, Northern Ireland, assignor to James Mackie & Sons Limited, Belfast, Northern Ireland, a

company of Great Britain Filed Mar. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 99,298 Claims priority, application Great Britain Apr. 5, 1960 7 Claims. ((31. 19-159) This invention relates to machines for the processing of textile fibres which emerge from the machine in the form of a sliver in readiness for a further stage of processing. In order that the sliver may conveniently be fed to the next stage, it is formed into a coil or pile by means of a revolving baseplate and the resultant pile is shaped and supported by a steel guard or guide which is open on the side away from the machine. This is usually half-circular, but may comprise a pair of surfaces arranged in the form of an open-ended V. The pile of sliver which is formed is frequently quite heavy; for example, the piles of sliver produced from a Goods Machine processing bast fibres may weigh approximately 300 lbs. In a typical example, a pile of this size must be removed from the machine approximately every four minutes.

For this purpose the normal practice is to stop the machine and then for the operator to slide the pile of sliver manually off the baseplate by means of a pair of hooks. The floor may be made smooth to facilitate the sliding of the pile of sliver, but the surface of the baseplate must be rough in order to provide the necessary rotary drive to the pile of sliver, so that considerable effort is involved in removing the pile from the plate.

According to the present invention, a ram located behind the guide is power operated so as to project beyond the guide and thus doif a pile of sliver on the baseplate, after which it is retracted again. In this way the greater part of the work involved, namely the removal of the pile from the plate, is carried out under power and it is then only necessary for the operator to slide the dotted pile of sliver over the floor which requires considerably less effort than is necessary for removing it from the baseplate. Moreover, it is possible for the pile of sliver to be doffed without the necessity for stopping the machine. Thus the operator may break the sliver at a point just before it reaches the pile and then operate a control for the dofi'ing mechanism. Alternatively, the operation may occur automatically when the pile reaches a predetermined size. After dofling the free end of the sliver is fed downwardly into contact with the rotary baseplate and the formation of the next pile continues without interruption.

Preferably, the ram comprises a pair of parallel rods spaced apart horizontally by a distance approximately equal to the radius of the baseplate. The use of a pair of spaced parallel rods has the advantage that they tend to prevent the pile of sliver from rotating while it is being dotted. Moreover, on withdrawal they do not interfere with the free end of the sliver falling on to the baseplate to start the formation of the next pile, nor do they carry any fibre backwards with them which would cause difficulties in the building of the next pile.

Most simply, the rods are operated by a pressure cylinder having a piston connected to a crosshead secured between the rods. This pressure cylinder may be controlled either by compressed air or by hydraulic fluid. As an alternative to the use of a pressure cylinder, however, the operation may be carried out, for example, by means of a crank, rack and pinion or other mechanical device.

If the operation of the rods is controlled by the operator, this operation may conveniently be initiated, when the pile of sliver has reached a sufllcient size, by means of a manually controlled valve which admits pressure fluid to the cylinder While a second valve controlled by movement of the rods to the limit of their travel diverts the pressure fluid to the other end of the cylinder to retract the rods. When the rods have returned to their retracted position, a third valve cuts off the supply of pressure fluid.

A construction in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic elevation partly in section; and

FIGURE 2 is a plan view corresponding to FIG- URE 1.

Sliver 1 is shown being drafted by a pair of rollers 2 and 3 from a faller bed 4 after which it passes through a pair of delivery rollers 5 and 6 and then descends on to a rotary baseplate 7. This is mounted on a bearing 8 and is located in a recess 9 in the floor. The drive to this baseplate is omitted for simplicity. The baseplate 7 has a roughened surface constituted by a diamond pattern as shown in FIGURE 2 at 1-0. This prevents the sliver slipping on the baseplate and enables the sliver to be coiled into a pile 11 as shown in FIGURE 1.

During its formation the pile is shaped and supported by a half-circular guide 15 and behind this guide is located a power operated ram constituted by a pair of parallel rods 16. These slide in guides 17 and 18 and are operated by a pressure cylinder 19 having a piston fitted with a piston rod 21 connected to a crosshead 22 secured between the rods 16. When pressure, which may be either pneumatic or hydraulic, is supplied to the cylinder 19, the rods 16 are caused to project through openings 25 in the guide 15 and thus to engage the pile of sliver 11. The thrust exerted by the rods moves the pile into the position shown in dotted lines at 11' in FIGURE 1 and since the floor adjacent the baseplate 7 is quite smooth the pile may then he slid away from the machine by the operator without difiiculty. The fact that the pile is engaged at two points on opposite sides of its centre line by the rod 16 effectively prevents it from rotating during the dofllng action.

The operation of the rods 16 is initiated by a valve shown diagrammatically at 26. This connects pressure fluid from a source 27 by way of a pipe 28 to the rear end of the cylinder 19. This forces the rods to the left as already described and when they reach the limit of their travel, an adjustable bolt 29' on the crosshead 22 engages a valve 30 mounted on the guide 17. This switches the pressure fluid from the rear end of the cylinder by way of a pipe 31 to the front end of the cylinder and thus causes the rods 16 to be retracted once again. When the piston has returned to its retracted position, a valve 32 is operated which cuts off the supply of pressure fluid and the operation is complete.

Since the operation is carried out under power, it is not necessary to stop the feed of sliver before dofling the pile 11. Before operating the valve 26, however, the operator breaks the sliver just forward of the delivery rollers and the dofiing of the pile 11 taking place while the baseplate 7 continues to rotate and the sliver 1 continues to be fed forwardly. The end of the sliver 1 descends between the spaced rods 16 and when these are retracted again they do not interfere with the sliver in any way which immediately starts to be coiled by the rotation of the baseplate 7 and thus to form the next pile.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for coiling textile slivers into a generally cylindrical pile, comprising: a rotary baseplate; a

W guide for shaping and supporting a pile of sliver on said baseplate; a ram located behind the guide; and power operated means for moving said ram across said baseplate so as to project beyond the guide and doif the pile of sliver from the baseplate.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said ram comprises a pair of parallel rods spaced apart horizontal- 1y by a distance approximately equal to the radius of said baseplate.

3. Apparatus as defined by claim 2 in which said power operated means comprises a pressure operated cylinder and piston, and a crosshead connected to said piston and said rods.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, including a manually controlled valve which admits pressure fluid to said cylinder to initiate operation of said rods; a second valve controlled by movement of said rods to the limit of their travel which diverts pressure fluid to the other end of said cylinder to retract said rods; and a third valve controlled by the return of said rods to their retracted position which cuts off the supply of pressure fluid.

5. Apparatus as defined by claim 4 in which said guide includes a pair of openings of only slightly larger diam- 4 eter than said rods so that loose fibers are stripped from said rods on their return stroke.

6. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 in which said ram is positioned to travel closely above said rotary base plate.

7. Apparatus for coiling textile slivers into a substantially cylindrical pile comprising: a rotary baseplate; a semi-circular guide positioned adjacent and extending upwardly from said baseplate for shaping and supporting a pile of sliver on said baseplate; a pair of spaced parallel horizontal rods slidingly supported adjacent said baseplate for movement immediately above and across said baseplate; a power operated cylinder and piston; a crosshead connected to said piston and said rods; and valve means for actuating said cylinder and piston to move said rods across said bsaeplate to doif a roll of sliver therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,934,221 Tonna Apr. 26, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 412,893 Great Britain July 5, 1934 

